Winnie Tam SBS SC JP

Winnie is a former Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association (Jan 2015 to Jan 2017), barrister and independent arbitrator and a Senior Counsel of the Hong Kong Bar. She holds qualifications to practise in England and Wales, Singapore, and Australian Capital Territory.  She is the Head of Des Voeux Chambers, the professional chambers of over 90 barristers in private practice.

Winnie was appointed Senior Counsel of the Hong Kong Bar in 2006.  From 2015, she has been serving as a Recorder of the Court of First Instance, High Court of the Hong Kong SAR.   She currently chairs the Bar’s committees on Sports Law and Intellectual Property.  In 2017 she was elected Co-Chair, Forum for Barristers and Advocates of the International Bar Association, and a member of the Policy Committee of the Bar Issues Commission of the IBA advising on policy statements on issues concerning legal communities around the world, and the Asia and Pacific Forum and the China Working Group under the IBA.

Winnie founded the Committee on China Practice Development under HKBA, which work was interrupted from 2018 onwards. She has nevertheless continued her teaching work on Arbitration at the Peking University. She has been a Member of the Consulting Committee of the Shenzhen Qianhai and Shekou SEZ since 2017。

Her practice spans a wide range of litigation and arbitration in civil and commercial matters with an emphasis in intellectual property law and cross-border investment disputes.  She is a panel arbitrator of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, a member of the Expert Committee of the Hi-tech and IP Arbitration Committee of the South China International Arbitration Commission (SCIA), a panel arbitrator of SCIA, CIETAC, SHIAC and a fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators and a CEDR-accredited mediator. Since 2018, Winnie has been the Co-Chair of Women In Arbitration under the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and a founding Board member of the eBRAM.

Winnie holds a number of roles in public service and charities, including as Chairman of the Communications Authority, member of West Kowloon Cultural District Board and chair of its Performing Arts Committee, member of the Law Reform Commission and the Chief Executive’s Council of Advisers on Innovation and Strategic Development, and member of the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society.

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